Grand Theft Auto 3 set for NVIDIA Kal-El quad-core optimized play

You may remember back in the middle of October when it was announced that Grand Theft Auto 3 would be coming back for a 10th anniversary edition that'd work with both Android and iOS - now it appears that NVIDIA is getting in on the action with Rockstar, providing their next-gen Kal-El (aka Tegra 3) quad-core processor-toting Android tablet to the group so that they can optimize the game for ultimate supremacy. Word comes this week from Adam Rosenberg who this week had the opportunity to check the soon to be released game out on the unnamed Kal-El NVIDIA tablet, an iPad 2, and an iPhone 4S. With the Kal-El tablet came the biggest surprises, both in that the game was running not on the tablet itself but through its TV-out connection, and secondly that Android's ability to work with USB controllers is programmed into the game so that an Xbox 360 controller works perfectly well!

Having found himself in the Rockstar offices for an early look at Grand Theft Auto 3's 10th anniversary edition, Rosenberg first warns us that the game is still in beta mode and things like frame rates are "still being perfected." On the other hand, he does note that, believe it or not, "it's immediately clear that this is a much better looking version of the game than most people played on their PS2s." Sound like the re-up you were looking for? Rockstar has taken many of the high-resolution assets from the game's PC release (later than the original PS2 version) and planted them here in the newest edition of the game. Newly created textures in items like signs and vehicles are amped up and are all working with fully 3D-modeled engines.

Everything in the game appears much more precise and detailed if one were to compare directly to the original release from 10 years ago, and now with the Kal-El quad (or penta)-core architecture, you can bet that this game will be all the better on a mobile landscape. Of course if you want to remain stationary while blowing off heads and crashing cars in the virtual world, you can also, again, plug in an Xbox 360 controller as Rosenberg did at Rockstar, this feature exclusive to Android for the moment. As far as how well the game plays on the iOS devices, Rosenberg only reported that the game looks great on the A5 chip.

Finally, Rockstar noted that there's a possibility for a future patch (after release) that would add PC-like graphics sliders to the game - this feature possible for Android "at least" at first. ALSO for those of you wondering, there is no video nor are there photos available yet - top secret!